Cosmic latte is the average color of the galaxies of the
universe
The universe is all of space and time and their contents. It comprises all of existence, any fundamental interaction, physical process and physical constant, and therefore all forms of matter and energy, and the structures they form, from s ...
as perceived by a typical human observer from the position of the Earth, found by a team of
astronomer
An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. Astronomers observe astronomical objects, such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, galax ...
s from
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...
(JHU). In 2002,
Karl Glazebrook and Ivan Baldry determined that the average color of the universe was a
green
Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a com ...
ish white, but they soon corrected their analysis in a 2003 paper in which they reported that their survey of the light from over 200,000
galaxies averaged to a slightly
beigeish
white
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
. The
hex triplet value (assuming the standard sRGB color space) for the cosmic latte color is approximately
#FFF8E7.
Discovery of the color
Finding the average colour of the universe was not the focus of the study. Rather, the study examined spectral analysis of different galaxies to study
star formation
Star formation is the process by which dense regions within molecular clouds in interstellar space—sometimes referred to as "stellar nurseries" or "star-forming regions"—Jeans instability, collapse and form stars. As a branch of astronomy, sta ...
. Similar to
Fraunhofer lines, the dark lines displayed in the study's spectral ranges indicate older and younger stars and allow Glazebrook and Baldry to determine the age of different galaxies and
star system
A star system or stellar system is a small number of stars that orbit each other, bound by gravity, gravitational attraction. It may sometimes be used to refer to a single star. A large group of stars bound by gravitation is generally calle ...
s. What the study revealed is that the overwhelming majority of stars formed about 5 billion years ago. Because these stars would have been "brighter" in the past, the color of the universe changes over time, shifting from blue to red as more blue stars change to yellow and eventually
red giants.
As light from distant galaxies reaches the Earth, the average "color of the universe" (as seen from Earth) tends towards pure white, due to the light coming from the stars when they were much younger and bluer.
Naming the color
The corrected color was initially published on the Johns Hopkins University (JHU) News website and updated on the team's initial announcement. Multiple news outlets, including
NPR and
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
, displayed the color in stories and some relayed the request by Glazebrook on the announcement asking for suggestions for names, jokingly adding all were welcome as long as they were not "beige".
These were the results of a vote of the JHU astronomers involved based on the new color:
Though Drum's suggestion of "
cappuccino cosmico" received the most votes, the researchers favored Drum's other suggestion, "cosmic
latte
Latte () or caffè latte (), also known as , or , is a List of coffee drinks, coffee drink of Italian cuisine, Italian origin made with espresso and steamed milk, traditionally served in a glass. Variants include the chocolate-flavored ''caf ...
". "'" means "milk" in
Italian,
Galileo's native language, and the similar "'" means "milky", similar to the Italian term for the
Milky Way
The Milky Way or Milky Way Galaxy is the galaxy that includes the Solar System, with the name describing the #Appearance, galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars in other arms of the galax ...
, "'". They enjoyed the fact that the color would be similar to the Milky Way's average color as well, as it is part of the sum of the universe.
They also claimed to be "
caffeine
Caffeine is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant of the methylxanthine chemical classification, class and is the most commonly consumed Psychoactive drug, psychoactive substance globally. It is mainly used for its eugeroic (wakefulness pr ...
biased".
See also
*
*
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References
External links
* Official project website
The Cosmic Spectrum (archived 2016)from Professor
Karl Glazebrook's website
*
{{Shades of white, Cosmic latte
Color
Physical cosmology
Shades of white
de:Kosmisch-Latte